This is an interesting effort to create what might have been Fotheringay's second album back in 1970, had the band not broken up by Sandy Denny's decision to pursue a solo career. It has been constructed from the original material that was available in various stages of completion, with modern editing and additions. In spite of its limitations, the result is an album that is remarkably good. However, some of the material will be very familiar.
"Two Weeks Last Summer" and "Gypsy Davey" have been previously available when they were added to the CD reissue of "Fotheringay". Both are excellent songs and justify inclusion in that they could hardly have been left out of a reconstruction of their proper context.
Several other songs saw the light of day elsewhere. The two Lucas/Roche compositions were recorded by Fairport Convention when Trevor Lucas and Jerry Donahue were members - "Knights of the Road" on the "Rosie" album in 1973 and "Restless" on "Rising for the Moon" in 1975. The Dylan composition "I don't Believe You" was recorded by Fairport during the recording of "Nine" in 1973 but was not included on the album. It eventually surfaced on the "Fairport Unconventional" boxed set in 2002. All feature Trevor on vocals and it is illuminating to hear them in their 'original' context so many years later.
Sandy herself later used three of the songs on her solo albums. "Late November" and "John the Gun" appeared on "The North Star Grassman and the Ravens" not long after the break up of Fotheringay, while "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" was included on her last studio album "Rendezvous". The first two are Sandy compositions and show the potential of her performing her own songs in a band - in just what direction would things have developed, I wonder?
That leaves us with three more tracks - all of them arrangements of traditional songs. "Bold Jack Donahue", an Australian bush song, and "Eppie Moray", a Scottish ballad, get the epic folk-rock treatment. But the highlight for me was the lilting "Wild Mountain Thyme" - a carefully woven mixture of original track with modern additions to highlight Sandy's gentle delivery.
The packaging includes an insert booklet with lots of information about the band and the album project from Richard Williams. It includes an interesting quotation from Sandy Denny about the band's name, which mistakenly places Fotheringay Castle in Scotland. It was where Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded, yes, but the location was Northamptonshire in England. Did Sandy really not know that, or was she misquoted?
So, are the tracks here worth the effort of putting together the album? The answer has to be 'Yes', in spite of the limitations of the material this is a most enjoyable collection that enables us all to ponder the might-have-beens.